


Diprotodons Down Under

by mayakitten



Category: Primeval
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-23
Updated: 2012-03-23
Packaged: 2017-11-02 09:40:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/367592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mayakitten/pseuds/mayakitten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick gets an email from an old friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Diprotodons Down Under

**Author's Note:**

> This was a 2011 Secret Santa present for Menel that got a little out of hand. I am working on further Dr Terry Dennis stories.

Nick absolutely wasn’t sulking. He was a grown man, after all. He just wasn’t best pleased that he had been forced to take a soldier with him as ‘protection’. Okay, yes, his ex-wife had tried to kill him, but that wasn’t his fault.

He glanced at the man sleeping beside him in the uncomfortable aeroplane seats. There was no way this was going to go well. Captain Becker just screamed military. Even Blade, for all his attachment to knives was somewhat scary, would probably have been less obvious. Becker looked like he had a stick up his arse most of the time.

Nick quickly turned his thoughts away from what else he might like to see up Becker’s arse, and back to the reason he was flying in the captain’s company halfway across the world to Australia.

He’s received an email from an old colleague, Terry Dennis, describing an odd phenomenon he had seen in an area where there had been sightings of what the locals described as a ‘bunyip’, a creature of legend to the indigenous people. The phenomenon sounded very much like an anomaly.

From what Nick understood, Terry had been investigating the bunyip sightings with fellow members of the Australian branch of the Centre for Fortean Zoology.

Nick was pulled out of his musings when Becker stirred beside him.

“How long to go?” the soldier muttered.

“Couple of hours yet.”

“Who’re we meeting again?”

“Dr Terry Dennis. He was a year ahead of me during our undergraduate degree. He works out of the University of Queensland. Runs around hunting for odd or mythological creatures in his spare time – cryptozoology is the proper term. Unusual animal sightings and such.”

“And he’s found an anomaly.”

“That’s what it sounds like from his descriptions, yes. And there is the possibility of a creature incursion as well. After all, the reason he was in the area was a number of so called bunyip sightings. There are various Australian prehistoric mammals that would fit the bill for that.”

“Fabulous,” Becker said drily. “And me without my shot gun.”

“You and your shotgun.” Nick glared. “The idea is to get the poor creature home.”

This was a familiar argument and Becker smirked in amusement. A shiver ran down Nick’s spine. He was absolutely not finding that slight smirk attractive.

“Oh shut up,” he huffed grumpily, and reached determinedly for the evolutionary zoology journal he had brought with him. He could ignore Becker for another two hours, right?

***

Arriving in Sydney was a whirlwind of customs, baggage claim, and picking up the hire car, which Becker insisted on driving. Nick had to admit that it was probably a good idea. His temper might not have been able to survive the traffic heading out of the city after having been cooped up on the plane in close company with Becker for 13 hours.

Once they left the city they headed northwest towards Wellington. Terry had said he would meet them in town. They wouldn’t head out until the next day.

“You know, Lyle is going to scream bloody murder when he realizes where we are.”  
Becker looked confused and Nick absolutely did not think it was adorable.

“Why?”

“Wellington Caves is one of the most popular locations for cave diving in Australia.”

Becker actually chuckled at that. “Should we send him a postcard?”

Nick chuckled. “Aye, perhaps we should. One of a cave if we can find one.”

Becker laughed, a full, genuine laugh, and Nick shivered. Becker didn’t seem so remote when it was just the two of them. Nick just had to remember that reaching out and touching would probably not be a good idea.

***

“What do you mean you only have a queen room available? We booked twin singles!”

“I am sorry, sir, there has been a mix up with your booking and there are no other rooms available. We will of course provide you with free internet access and meals.”

Nick opened his mouth to start another tirade, only to be cut off by Becker.

“Thank you, ma’am. I’m sure we will be fine.” He smiled at her and she giggled as she handed over the room key.

Before Nick could protest, Becker had grabbed their bags and was ushering Nick upstairs.

“No use yelling at her,” muttered Becker. “It won’t change anything. And I’m sure you’re used to sharing tents and such with Stephen so we should be fine.”

Nick opened his mouth to argue, but shut it again. He and Stephen had often shared space on field trips and had even shared a bed when attending conferences on occasion. He couldn’t exactly tell Becker it was different because Nick wasn’t actually attracted to Stephen, as handsome as the man was. That would require admitting who he was attracted to.

Nick sighed and followed Becker into the room. This was turning into a very awkward trip.

***

In his haste to get out of close quarters with Becker, Nick nearly pushed him out of the door when it was time to meet Terry Dennis. Becker just muttered something about bossy professors and followed him outside. They were meeting at a café just down the road from the hotel.

Nick spotted Terry immediately and trotted up to give him a back-slapping hug. Terry hadn’t changed a great deal over the years. Tall and broad shouldered, with sandy blond hair (now peppered with grey), scruffy stubble and blue eyes.

“Good to see you, Terry.”

“You too, Nick. I was surprised when you replied to my email saying you were coming immediately. Usually a crowbar is required to get you out of your office.”

“It’s a complicated situation. This is Captain Becker. We work together.”

Terry shot one of his patented penetrating glances at Nick before reaching out to clasp Becker’s proffered hand.

“Nice to meet you. Dr Terry Dennis. No first name?”

Becker couldn’t quite hide the wince at the question. Nick had to admit, he was curious himself.

“Not if I can help it, Dr Dennis. Just Becker is fine.”

“Only if you call me Terry. Not even my students call me Dr Dennis.”

“Nice to meet you, Terry.”

“Let’s sit. You’ve not flown half way round the world to exchange pleasantries. I can see Nick is practically biting his tongue.”

Nick gave Terry the evil eye at his teasing tone, but sat anyway and ordered a coffee when the waitress floated over. “So, Terry, tell me more about the phenomenon you described in your email and the creature you were looking for.”

Terry chuckled. “Straight to the point as usual. “ He wrapped his hands around his coffee and thought for a moment. “It was mesmerizing. I’ve never seen anything like it. It looked like an explosion of light frozen in time. It was all sharp-edged fragments, spinning in the air. My compass went crazy. The magnetic field was so strong my battered old canteen flew straight at it. It didn’t hit anything though, just disappeared. To be honest, I didn’t want to get any closer without knowing what it was.” He shook his head. “It gave me the shivers.”

Nick and Becker exchanged long glances. It definitely sounded like an anomaly.

Terry caught the glance and gave Nick a shrewd look. “I take it you’ve come across something similar? The complicated situation that has you working with a soldier.”

Nick sighed. “Aye, we’ve got phenomena that sound like the same thing back home. What about the creature?”

“I’ve got a blurry image from a blogger and a few tracks to go on,” said Terry. “My best guess is a Diprotodon. Though how any of them survived beats me.”

“The largest of the giant mammals in the late Pleistocene,” Nick explained to Becker. “A herbivore about the size of a rhinoceros. Related to the modern day wombat, despite being a hell of a lot bigger. It’s suspected that hunting by the early Indigenous people may have had something to do with their extinction.”

“Exactly. One of the most popular theories as to the origin of the bunyip legend is that they were diprotodon.” Terry raised an eyebrow at Nick. “Care to explain what the weird magnetic phenomenon I saw has to do with a supposedly extinct giant mammal? It must be something big if it dragged you halfway across the world, Nick, and with a military escort as well. What on earth are you up to?”

Nick exchanged another long glance with Becker, only turning back to Terry when Becker gave the slightest of nods.

“You have to understand, Terry, this is completely top secret. There is still too much we don’t understand and the dangers involved are high. I’m sure my boss is already making overtures to the Australian government to make sure this is kept quiet.”

Terry snorted. “I figured that out as soon as you turned up with soldier boy there.”

Nick noticed Becker tensing at the despised nickname, and kicked his ankle lightly to keep him focused.

“Right then. The phenomenon you saw was what we call an anomaly. As far as we can tell they are rips in time. So far most of the ones we’ve come across have had prehistoric eras on the other side, though we have run into trouble with the future once or twice. My psychotic ex-wife has been travelling through them for years, so watch out for her. She likes to cause trouble. My guess is that the one you saw led to the Pleistocene and your bunyip really is a diprotodon.”

“You’re not kidding, are you?” Terry had gone pale. “Shit. So what do we do now?”

“We track it down and hope like hell the anomaly reopens so we can send it home. If not, I’m sure my boss will have contacts that can organize some sort of housing arrangement. At least it’s an herbivore. It’s unlikely to actually hurt anyone, unless it gets scared into stampeding.”

Terry squared his shoulders. “It looks like we’re off on a hike then. I hope you two brought your walking boots. The most recent tracks I spotted were headed into the hills west of Wellington. There is much more tree cover there.”

They piled into the Holden ute (Nick wondered why they couldn’t be sensible and call it a truck) that Terry had brought and headed out of town. It was only a short trip and soon they had pulled up in a clump of trees beside the road. Terry had a tranquiliser rifle which Becker quickly took charge of, happy to have some sort of firearm to hand. Terry took charge of the map and Nick the compass, wanting to keep an eye out for any magnetic interference.

Full of optimism, they headed into the hills. An animal the size of a rhino couldn’t be too hard to find.

By late afternoon, Nick was well and truly sick of eucalypts, or as the locals referred to them, gum trees. His feet were sore, he was hot, sweaty and tired and they hadn’t seen sight nor sound of anything larger than a kookaburra. And to add to his discomfort, Becker was just as grubby and sweaty, only it made him look even more gorgeous. It was driving Nick to distraction. His plans of being decidedly not attracted to the captain were fast slipping out of reach.

Terry checked his watch. “We’re going to have to head back and try again in the morning. We’ll be losing light soon and I don’t fancy meeting something the size of a rhino in the dark.”

“Maybe if you take us to the anomaly site tomorrow I can pick up some tracks?” Becker offered. “The trail is probably cold but it might give us some indication.”

“Sounds like a plan. I vote for heading back for dinner and a beer,” chimed in Nick.

Laughing, Terry checked his map and turned them in the direction of the ute. “Off we go then. Your shout when we get back, Nick.”

“Cheap bastard.”

It warmed his heart to hear Becker chuckle quietly beside him, though.

***

By the time Nick had a hot meal and a few pints of the local beer in him, he was relaxed and getting a little sleepy. Becker had opened up a little during dinner, proving he had a sense of humour and a friendly disposition once you got through his walls of politeness. Nick had stopped resisting his attraction and was letting his gaze linger a little longer than he should.

Nick and Terry had caught up on the last five years of news before Terry had excused himself, wanting to get some rest before they started out again in the morning. Nick wobbled a bit as he stood up.

“Time I turned in as well,” he said, grinning at Becker.

Becker swallowed the last mouthful of his beer. “Sounds good to me. Need a hand up the stairs?”

Nick scowled. “I’m quite fine, thanks.” Concentrating very hard he managed to make it upstairs with no mishaps. He started shedding clothes as soon as he got to the room.  
“Won’t be long,” he muttered, heading into the bathroom.

Brushing his teeth, Nick started to sober up a little, suddenly remembering he was about to share a bed with Becker.

“Oh bollocks.”

In and out, in and out. By breathing slowly and deeply Nick managed to find enough calm to leave the bathroom. He was hoping that nerves would prevent any unwanted physical reactions. This hope was quickly dashed when he laid eyes on Becker, who was clad in only a loose fitting pair of drawstring shorts. 

Nick coughed, flustered. “Er, bathroom’s free.”

“Thanks, Nick.”

Nick barely noticed Becker pass him as he moved towards the bed, wondering whether Becker had actually called him Nick. He started out of his daze when Becker slid into the other side of the bed.

“Good night, Nick.”

“Oh, good night, Becker.” Nick quickly flicked off his bedside lamp and lay still and tense on his side of the bed, facing the window.

Half an hour later, Nick was still staring out the window, watching the moonlight shift in patterns through the trees outside. Being so close to Becker, feeling his weight shift and hearing his soft breathing behind him was absolutely not relaxing. Nick’s instinct was to relax and snuggle in a manly way back against him. So he kept his muscles tense, which meant sleep was not in reach. He sighed. At this rate he was going to be extremely crabby and appallingly useless tomorrow. Not to mention the fact he was apparently turning into a teenage girl.

A strong hand suddenly slipped over Nick’s waist and dragged him backwards. Nick squawked in surprise. “What?”

Becker chuckled behind him, but tightened his grip. “Relax. It’s just me.”

Nick was now pressed back to chest against Becker. He gulped as he realized just how sculpted said chest was. Becker’s groin pressed against Nick’s arse and a leg slid between his. Nick froze, barely daring to breathe.

“Ssshhh.” Becker’s breath wafted past Nick’s ear, causing goose bumps to appear on his skin. “You’ve been watching me a while. This is me saying its okay. I’m attracted to you as well.” Becker pressed a soft kiss against the side of Nick’s neck. “Now go to sleep. Early start in the morning.”

Nick let out a ragged breath and relaxed back against Becker. He wasn’t entirely sure this was actually happening, but it felt too good to resist. Becker was warm and strong against him and he felt at peace, all the stress of hiding his attraction leaving him in that one breath.

It didn’t take long for Nick to drop off to sleep this time.

***

When Nick woke, he took a moment to revel in the feeling of Becker wrapped around him. He grinned as he felt something that was definitely not a gun pressed against his arse. He couldn’t help but wriggle back against Becker’s cock, imagining what it would be like to be fucked by it.

Becker groaned sleepily and tightened the arm that was wrapped around Nick’s waist. “Stop it. We don’t have time for a shag.”

Nick sighed. It was true, they had planned to meet up with Terry quite early. Reluctantly he wriggled out of Becker’s grip. Nick patted Becker’s cock gently as he got out of bed. “Save it for me.” He smirked and wandered into the bathroom to start getting ready for the day.

***

They met up with Terry after a quick breakfast and set off towards the anomaly site, coffees in hand. Once they were there Nick pulled out the handheld detector Connor had made sure came with them.

“I’m not picking up any anomalies, but the magnetic field is still quite high.”

Becker was already checking the area for tracks. “I think we’re lucky this thing is so big. There is a fairly clear trail leading further into the hills. I have both tracks and broken undergrowth.”

Terry grinned. “Time to find a bunyip then.”

It was a couple of hours of tracking before they small group had a breakthrough when the trail was crossed by fresher tracks. They had found a couple of areas where the diprotodon had stopped to graze and they crossed one creek where it had obviously stopped to drink. Once they picked up the new trail, it started to drift back towards the anomaly site.

Becker turned to the two zoologists. “Do you think it might be trying to return home?”

Nick thought for a moment. “I guess it depends on how much of a homing instinct it has. We really don’t know much about them behaviourally. The closest modern relative is probably a wombat, but I don’t know much about them either. Terry?”

“Wombat behavior is quite a bit different, as they are burrowers and can’t forage too far from the burrow, being more nocturnal.” Terry had taken on a lecturing tone that made him sound so much like Nick that Becker had to suppress a smirk. “They certainly have foraging territories and I know the males of the Southern Hairy Nosed Wombat can be quite territorial. But diprotodons didn’t burrow. The Southern Hairy Nosed Wombat does live in family groups though, so it is possible diprotodons may do something similar. Given their size the grazing range would be much wider I suspect.”

“So basically it’s possible but you don’t know,” summarized Becker.

Terry frowned. “Yes.”

“So following the trail is really our only option. Best get a move on then, before it comes across a member of the public.”

The three men set off again, Becker in the lead. Nick and Terry followed him while having a highly scientific discussion about wombat behaviour. Becker just grinned and made sure the tranquilizer rifle was loaded.

An hour later they were nearing the anomaly site again and the tracks Becker was following were fairly fresh. 

“We should keep fairly quiet,” he murmured. “I really don’t want to spook something that big, now that we’re getting close.”

Just then Nick’s anomaly detector started to ping quietly. “Bugger,” he muttered as he started to check the reading. “It looks like the anomaly has reopened in the same place.” All three men looked at each other.

“This could be our best chance to coax the diprotodon home,” Nick pointed out.

“We had better find it quick smart then,” said Terry.

There was an air of excitement about the hunt now. Their pace picked up. Thankfully the trail was still heading towards the anomaly. When they reached the trees at the edge of the clearing where it had originally opened, Becker held his finger to his lips and pointed through a gap between two shrubs. When Nick and Terry joined him, their jaws dropped. The diprotodon, and it definitely was one, was grazing only a few metres from where the anomaly sparkled in mid air.

“Oh my god,” whispered Terry. “It’s beautiful. It’s real.”

Nick grinned. “This is why I keep doing my job.”

Becker rolled his eyes. “How do we convince it to go through?”

“We don’t want to startle it into charging. I think our best chance is gentle encourage it in that direction. Maybe wave some branches around and make noise enough that it wants to get away, but not so abrupt that it panics.”

“Sounds good to me,” agreed Terry. “You might want to keep the tranquiliser ready to go though, Becker.”

Becker nodded. “I think I saw some fallen branches that would work a little while back. If you can go and grab them, I’ll keep an eye on our friend here.”

Plan in place, Nick and Terry left to get the branches and then the trio moved quietly around the edge of the clearing so that they were behind the creature. Moving slowly into the open they rustled the branches and made soft noises. 

The diprotodon turned a little and eyed the strange creatures coming up behind it. Swinging back around, it shuffled a little closer to the anomaly, only to discover that the waving branches were still coming towards it. It uttered a loud huffing sound and stamped a foot before loping closer to the sparkling light again.

“It’s working,” muttered Terry.

The men kept waving the branches and the one Nick was holding got close enough to brush against the diprotodon’s hind quarters. It let out a surprisingly loud bellow of annoyance and trotted through the anomaly, clearly hoping to get away from these bothersome creatures.

Nick dropped his branch and grinned. “We did it.”

Becker gave him an actual smile rather than a smirk and Terry clapped a hand on his shoulder. “That we did. Now what?”

“We wait for the anomaly to close I guess.” Nick checked the detector and his compass. “It’s not a particularly strong one, so we may not have to wait long. It’s hard to tell.”

“We should move back, just in case something else comes through,” suggested Becker.

Nick and Terry wandered over to the tree line and sat down, immediately falling into discussion about some of Nick and Connor’s theories regarding the anomalies. Becker stood a small distance away, his hands cradling the rifle as he watched the anomaly closely. Two hours later, the anomaly shimmered and then disappeared.

Nick checked his compass again. “The magnetic field is nearly back to normal. Give it another half hour and I think we’ll be done here.” He grinned at Becker. “Then we can go a find that postcard for Lieutenant Lyle.”

Becker chuckled. “I’ll need to report to Lester, but that sounds good to me. How about dinner afterwards?”

Nick blushed when he caught Terry smirking at him out of the corner of his eye. “That sounds good, Captain.

“I look forward to it, Professor. Eagerly.”

Nick wondered whether Lester would let them extend the trip a little. If not, they could always join the mile high club.


End file.
